1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to displaying of information by an integrated circuit (IC) tag that is attached to merchandise.
2) Description of the Related Art
Items of merchandise (hereinafter, “items”) sold in supermarkets and department stores are put on display with price tags and bar codes attached, to indicate the price of the item. For a special discount sale conducted over a limited period, some items are sold at a reduced price. Such items include items for which “Best Before” dates, which indicate that the quality of the item is best until the date mentioned, are near. Therefore, sales persons attach discount price tags to such items, to indicate the discount price.
However, attaching discount price tags to items increases the workload of sales persons. Sales persons must put in additional time and effort to determine items that are to be sold at discounted price or items of which Best Before dates are near, and attach the discount price tags to such items. Moreover, the sales persons may forget to attach the discount price tags to some items.
Furthermore, for each of those items, the sales person has to read item information from a bar code using a scanner at a point of sales (POS) register and enter a discount price in the POS register based on the discount price tag.
Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-133519 discloses a price tag that includes an item data memory, which data is read from and written in using a weak current. Price data or the like is written in the item data memory with an indicator current from an antenna installed in a store, which eliminates the need for changing prices of items.
However, in the conventional price tags, if an item price is changed, a customer cannot view the updated item price. Therefore, if the information about an item is changed using an indicator current, the updated item information must be displayed on the price tag attached to the item.
Furthermore, the item information stored in the price tag may easily be read by a third person. Therefore, the privacy of customers who purchase items needs to be protected.